Materia of Time
by BabyKay47
Summary: Cloud and Tifa discover a mysterious materia. Its properties are unknown, and at first they believe that it is useless, that is until upon touching the glowing orb, it sends Tifa thirty-five years into the past before the events that led to the world crisis they faced in FF7. There she meets Vincent...Summary continued inside
1. Chapter 1

_Cloud and Tifa discover a mysterious materia. Its properties are unknown, and at first they believe that it is useless, that is until upon touching the glowing orb, it sends Tifa thirty-five years into the past before the events that led to the world crisis they faced in FF7. There she meets Vincent and must try to convince him that she is from another time and that he is the key to stopping a terrible tragedy. With her knowledge of the future, will she be able to prevent the experiments that lead to Sephiroth destroying her hometown? And if she does, how will that affect the future that she knows? Will she ever be able to return to her own time? _

A/N: Ugh! I really wish had a warning that said that the document manager only accepted 250 characters (with spaces) in the summary box before allowing me to put up my nice long summary, only for half of it to disappear when my story gets posted :-( It's a real bitch to have to go back in and reformat everything to just the way I like it.

I've realized that even though I never start out to write M-rated stories they always turn out that way, so even though this one isn't really one right now, I'm going to go ahead and give it an M rating just to be safe.

As a point of reference, I've set 1997 as the year the events of FF7 take place. Tifa finds Cloud at the Midgar train station in about August of 1997 and the Lifestream stop Meteor in about May of 1998.

Disclaimer: FF7 isn't mine.

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August 8, 2001

Tifa sneezed as she set down a dusty box. She and Cloud had been going through piles and piles of junk all day as they cleaned out the basement of the new shop they had purchased in Nibelheim. That was until Cloud had gotten a call and had to take off in order to pick up supplies. It was only midmorning, and she already felt sweaty and irritated. She wished that she had taken up Cloud's offer to go with him, but her fastidiousness would not allow her to leave with the basement in such utter chaos.

It had been three years since Meteor was defeated. All of the members of AVALANCHE had become celebrities, and wherever they went they were met with gratitude and festivities. Barrett had returned to Corel with his daughter Marlene and they began to rebuild the suffering economy of the town. Yuffie was in Wutai, helping her father bring back dignity to the once proud nation. Cid had gone back to Rocket Town where he'd finally asked Shera to marry him. Even though his dream of going into outer space had been realized, he still had big plans for a space program, and was trying to get funding to build another rocket. Cait Sith was in the Edge with his owner and operator, Reeve, who was trying to help the refugees from Midgar create a new place to live outside of the ruined city. Nanaki had returned to Cosmo Canyon where he served as protector and continued his studies of the Planet. Since Tifa and Cloud had no home to return to, at first they wandered around the world trying to help people any way they could, by helping erect houses, or planting crops, but mostly as hunters since the monsters produced by the effects of Mako had not yet been eradicated.

Eventually, though, they got tired of their nomadic lifestyle. Tifa yearned to put down some roots, and Cloud was helpless not to give her whatever she wanted. So on a whim they returned to Nibelheim and were surprised to find out that a lot had developed in the two years since they had last visited the town that had been the center of a huge Shinra cover-up. With the Shinra Company gone, it gave more people safe access to settle in the town other than the paid employees who had kept up the façade that Shinra had wanted to perpetuate in order to keep its dirty secrets. With more people, came more business, and more business meant more buildings. The small town was bursting at the seams with growth. It made Cloud and Tifa both happy and nostalgic at the same time. They were glad to see that their hometown was recovering from the blow it had been dealt, and yet at the same time it was not the home they grew up in. None of the people were the same, and even though most of the buildings were exact replicas of the ones they had known in their childhood, they knew that they were not the same. The new residents were very welcoming, however, and when the town mayor offered them the use of any building or home that they wanted as a show of gratitude for all they had done to save the Planet, neither Cloud or Tifa could refuse. The pair chose the weapons shop, which also had an apartment above it, where they decided that they would not only collect and trade weapons but the materia to equip them with as well. They chose it partly because they had not been comfortable with the idea of putting anyone out of their home or business in order to accommodate the mayor's grand gesture even though the people in the town had eagerly agreed with it, and the weapon's shop had been one of the only few buildings still unoccupied. It was in the perfect location right in the center of the town in front of the old well. It also seemed to be a good fit for them since in their travels they had collected many weapons and materia.

It had only taken them a few days to get the showroom cleared and opened for business. The former owner had sold flowers, so they had to import glass display cases, and get rid of a lot of vases and old mildewed silk flowers, as well as some that had been hung up to dry. But they still had a bit of cleaning up to do, in the back supply room and office, and downstairs in the basement, which was why Tifa was down there going through boxes of abandoned equipment that the old owner had left when a customer came in. They didn't get very many customers yet, so she felt safe enough to work downstairs even with the shop open. A bell on the door let her know that she needed to head back up the stairs.

A tall, lanky dark haired man was staring at materia inside one of the glass counters. His clothing was kind of odd. It was not in any kind of style she was familiar with, and she couldn't make out what kind of material it was made out of. But as out of place as it made him look, it did fit him attractively.

"Can I help you?" she asked, coming up next to him.

He looked up startled, and then stared at her in unmitigated wonder. "_Ka—_Tifa…"

Slightly taken aback, she asked, "Do I know you?"

Realizing that he was staring, the stranger shook himself as if to ward of something and then smiled sadly at her. "No you don't…even if I wish it weren't so."

After years as a bartender she had developed a low tolerance for come-ons. "I'm sorry, mister, but if you're trying to hit on me I have to inform you that I'm already taken."

The stranger looked scandalized. "I was not trying to hit on you! Why that would be—that would be—"

"Indecent? Forward? Ridiculous?"

"Yes, yes! Exactly."

"Thanks…I think." Looking at the stranger, something seemed vaguely familiar about him. It was something about his eyes, which were a warm brown with specks of red, and how strands of his dark hair fell in his face despite his having tied it back in a ponytail. It reminded her of—but alas, it wasn't and there was no use in thinking about it. "So, if you're not here to hit on me, what can I help you with? I'm not as familiar with all the weapons as Cloud is, but I think I can steer you in the right direction, at least until he gets back."

"I'm not interested in weapons. I wanted to trade some materia with you."

"I can definitely help you with that!" she exclaimed excitedly. "What have you got?"

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather drawstring sack. Opening the bag, he spilled out the small glowing orbs that were unmistakably materia. Picking out a green one, he set it on the counter and pushed it towards her for examination. It appeared to be an ordinary magic materia, only it didn't have any of the normal markings for fire, lightening, ice, etc. It seemed most closely related to a time materia, only that was off, too. Whatever it was, it appeared to be fully mastered. "Do you know what it is?" Tifa asked.

"No." He got a mysterious look on his face and didn't seem inclined to say more. Tifa wasn't sure if she believed him.

"Well, if you can't tell me what it does, I can't give you a very good deal on it."

"That's all right. I'll take whatever you can give me."

"Are you sure you don't know what it does? You seem awfully nonchalant about giving away a fully mastered materia."

"Yes."

Tifa figured that even if he did know what it was, it couldn't have been anything very powerful, or else he wouldn't be so willing to trade it cheaply. "All right then, I'll give you a fire or ice. Cloud recently mastered both so we have two newly birthed materia."

"I'll take the ice."

Tifa went into the back of the shop to retrieve the materia. When she returned she handed it to the young man who put it in his sack. "Thanks for the business, and come back anytime!" she told him, dismissing him so that she could go back to cleaning.

The man nodded, and then began to walk out of the shop. But he lingered. When he got to the doorway, he turned around. "Was there something else you wanted?"

The young man hesitated. It was clear that there was something more he wanted to say, but couldn't get it out. In that moment, he reminded her of herself at that age, and her own shyness, and her heart went out to him. Despite his height, he was obviously very young. She felt bad for the way she had almost bit his head off earlier. She smiled warmly at him. "It's okay, I didn't mean to sound so agitated earlier, it's just been a long, hot day."

The young man shook his head. "There's no need to apologize. I realize you weren't expecting me…could never expect what this means to me…but I just want you to know…you're as beautiful as I thought you would be." Then he quickly exited. Startled, Tifa watched his retreating figure. Again she was reminded of someone else, and had the eerie feeling that she knew him.

* * *

Cloud returned home a few hours later, rolling in several large boxes on a cart. "Tifa! You have to come look at this stuff. It's amazing!" he yelled by way of greeting.

Tifa was still toiling in the basement, and welcomed the break from work that Cloud's return would give her. Curious about what could get Cloud so wound up, she climbed the basement stairs asking, "What is it?" as she walked into the main showroom.

"Swords!" he exclaimed. As he grabbed a tool to open one of the boxes with, Tifa couldn't help but smile at his excitement. She loved seeing him so happy and relaxed. For too long he had been wracked with guilt, and insecure about who he was and what his purpose was. But Tifa had stood patiently by him, supporting him and loving him, and three months ago he had asked her to marry him. It had been a spur of the moment thing, and so he did not have a ring, but she knew what was in his heart and that was all that mattered. She didn't care if they ever got formally married, as long as she was with him.

When he'd gotten the box open, he pulled out a smaller black leather case. He handed it to her, telling her to open it. It was a dagger with the figure of a CLOUDY wolf welded into the handle. He grinned proudly at her gasp of appreciation.

"This is beautiful, Cloud."

"And you'll never guess who made it!"

Tifa giggled at his enthusiasm. "Who made it Cloud?"

"Hephaestus! Can you believe it? I now own a real honest-to-Odin Hephaestian blade!"

"Aren't they incredibly rare?"

"There were only 47 daggers made, according to legend."

"How do you know it's authentic?"

"I'll show you," he said pulling the dagger out of the case. "Where is your fire materia?" Tifa turned away from Cloud, walking into the supply room at the back of the building to retrieve her fire materia. As she reached for the fire materia, she spotted the new time-like materia she had traded for earlier. She decided to grab that one as well to ask Cloud what he thought it was. Returning to the main room, she lifted the hand holding the fire to give to Cloud, only for him to shake his head. "No, you hold it."

Doing as he asked she held it in her open palm so that he could see it. Then Cloud lowered the blade of the dagger next to it. As the dagger got closer and closer to the stone, both the orb and the blade began to glow brightly, becoming brighter and brighter as the blade got nearer. Suddenly when the blade touched the materia the dagger burst into flame shooting out the fiery shape of a chocobo.

"Ooh!" Tifa exclaimed.

"If it wasn't a true Hephaestian dagger, it wouldn't do that."

"That's amazing. He must have been a great blacksmith."

Cloud's eyes widened in consternation. "Not just a 'great' blacksmith. The best!" He feigned irritation at her ignorance, but the happy glint in his eye told Tifa that he was not really upset. "I can't believe I now own a true Hephaestian dagger! I'm never gonna trade this sucker."

"How am I ever going to pick out a birthday present to top this?" Tifa questioned, sounding exasperated.

At that Cloud gave up all pretense of seeming upset, and looked up at her quite seriously. "You agreed to marry me. What more could I want?"

Tifa blushed with happiness.

"You know, Hephaestus is famous for more than just making daggers and swords."

"Oh, really?" Tifa asked playfully.

"Mmm-hmm," Cloud murmured as he reached into his pocket. "There's something I've been meaning to give you. But it's taken me forever to find exactly what I was looking for." When he withdrew his hand from his pocket he was holding a smaller velvet box. Tifa's heart leapt into her throat at the sight of it. Cloud opened it revealing a platinum ring setting with a large ruby centerstone and intricate double chocobo motif on the sides. "Another thing Hephaestus is famous for is his rings. This is one of a kind," he told her as, taking the ring out of the box, he took her left hand into his own where he slipped the ring onto her finger. "I wanted a ruby to match your eyes."

"Oh, Cloud! It's beautiful!" Tifa exclaimed. And then she promptly burst into tears.

Cloud looked dismayed. "I'm sorry! If you want a diamond, I'll get you a diamond…it's just that when I saw this, I immediately thought of you."

"It's not that." She sniffled. "It's just that I didn't realize how much I wanted to get married until just now. I told myself that I would be satisfied if we never got married, just as long as I was with you, even after you asked me to marry you. And there was I time that I had given up hope that even _that_ would be possible. But you giving me this ring…it just makes it so _real_, you know?"

"I do know. I'm sorry I didn't do this earlier. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for ever making you think I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have been in love with you since we were kids, and I've been such an idiot to wait this long to finally make you mine."

"I don't mind. I would have waited a lot longer for you if I had to. I love you, too. So much." She leaned in to kiss him, dragging her mouth over his hotly.

She didn't stop with a single kiss, but pulled him into the back room with her, where she shoved her hands underneath his shirt and made him drop his pants.

* * *

Their bodies already sticky with the sweat of pleasurable exertion, they decided that they might as well close up the shop and finish cleaning the basement. Since Tifa had already done most of the grunt work, with the two of them, they managed to straighten up and organize it in no time.

With that task done, they had nothing to do but bask in the happiness of a new engagement. After making love again in the shower, and then actually cleaning themselves, they decided to do nothing but lounge around lazily on the couch in the living room of their apartment on top of the shop. Tifa could not stop staring at her ring, and Cloud could not stop staring at her staring at her ring. "Just wait until I tell Yuffie!" she exclaimed leaning against him contentedly.

Cloud smirked. "I'm sure she'll make some sarcastic comment about why it took so long."

"That's true. But she always seemed confident that you would ask me, even when I wasn't so sure. Now I really don't know what to get you for your birthday, and it's only a couple of days away."

"You haven't gotten anything already? That isn't like you. You normally have everyone's birthday presents ready for them after Winter Festival!"

"That's because the best sales are right after Winter Festival!"

"I know. I'm really disappointed in you…" Cloud joked. "Hey! Why don't I tell Yuffie what I really want, and then you can ask her, and then I can still act surprised when you get it for me."

Tifa smirked. "We'll see." It was true enough that she hadn't gotten a present for Cloud, but what she had in mind was even better. She had planned a surprise party for him, and all the former Avalanche teammates were supposed to be there. Except for those who had fallen in battle. Reflecting on Cloud's words, she wondered, "You didn't ask Yuffie for any advice on what ring to buy _me_ did you?"

Cloud looked guilty.

"Hey, I thought you picked it out!"

"I did. But I kind of asked her what she thought you would like. And we even picked out this other ring. But I still didn't think it was the right one. And then when I saw this one, I remembered how much you like chocobos…"

"I must say, you did good." She grinned. "Hey, will my ring burst into flame too, if it touches a fire materia?"

"Yes, it should, but don't worry, it won't set you on fire or anything. It's magical fire that doesn't burn."

"That's good—oh, that reminds me," she said, pushing away from the circle of Cloud's warm arms to go retrieve the mystery materia she had traded for today. Bringing it back, she handed it to Cloud. "What do you make of this? Some guy traded it in."

Taking it in his hands, he examined it carefully, turning it upside down and viewing the way it captured and distorted the light. "Hmm…it looks kind of like a time materia. But not quite."

"That's what I thought. I haven't tried to use its magic yet, though."

"We might as well try it now, to figure out what it does." Getting up to retrieve his Buster Sword from the shelf where he kept it in his office, he inserted the materia into one of the slots. Since he was unsure of the materia's magical properties he thought it would be safest to test outside. Tifa followed him. In the backyard there was an empty area far enough away from the building that he thought nothing would get harmed if for some reason the materia had some destructive capabilities. Facing the sword away from the house and Tifa who stood behind him, he touched the orb on his weapon and recited a basic casting spell. Nothing happened. He repeated it, and when still nothing happened, he tried a more advanced spell. Still nothing. He kept increasing the difficulty of the spell until he had exhausted his repertoire of spells.

Tifa felt tremendously disappointed. In one of her first transactions at the shop she had managed to buy a dud materia. "I'm sorry Cloud. I shouldn't have traded that materia without knowing if it worked or not. At least I didn't give away a fully mastered one, too!"

"It's all right, Tifa. I probably would have traded it too. It's obviously very rare. Maybe old too, and that's why none of my spells are working. I bet if I do some research I should be able to figure out what it is. It should be interesting."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You didn't by any chance happen to get the guy's name did you? If we could find him, maybe he could give us some more information about it."

"No, I didn't. I did ask him about the materia, however. I kind of got the feeling that he knew more about it than he was letting on, though. You should have seen this guy, Cloud. He looked just like Vincent." Thinking over her encounter with the young man, she recalled feeling uneasy at his looks and his reticence to answer her questions, but having a strange sense of familiarity as well.

"Vincent? Really? You know, I thought I saw a guy who looked like him as well. He gave me this funny look, as if he wanted to come up and say 'hi,' but he didn't. One moment he was there, and I must have turned my head or something, but the next second he was gone. Isn't that crazy?"

"Yeah." But the more she thought about the young man who reminded her so much of Vincent and his mystery materia, the more she began to feel uneasy.

* * *

Tifa managed to forget about the strange young man in the days that followed as she hurried about making final preparations for Cloud's birthday party. Cloud had indeed told Yuffie what he wanted, so Tifa had gone out in search of the best price for the new tricked out P900iv PHS that he had requested. Even though Tifa and Cloud had made their fortune during their travels, Tifa could still remember the days that she had gone hungry in the slums as if they were not that far away. Despite her generous and giving heart, she did not like to pay more for something if she could find a better deal. It was a habit learned by necessity.

The day of Cloud's birthday arrived, and she had only been able to find one place that still had the damned thing since all of the reasonably priced stores had run out of it. Giving it up as a lost cause, she resigned herself to purchasing the entirely overpriced phone. _Cloud and I are gillionaires,_ she reminded herself. _And this is nothing compared to what I spent on the party._ The party was going to take place in the Guinan ballroom at the newly renovated Nibelheim Inn, where Tifa had arranged for all of the AVALANCHE members to have suites. She had also invited most of the residents of Nibelheim, who had all at one time or another expressed their thanks to both her and Cloud. She had spared no expense to have a caterer prepare all of Cloud's favorite foods, and there would be a live band. But she had made the large seven-layer cake herself from scratch, knowing how much Cloud loved her secret recipe double fudge chocolate cake. That had been quite a task since she had to sneak out of the shop and enlist the aid of her friend Gerard the baker to let her use his kitchens. But he was more than happy to oblige.

She decided to stop by Sharp Image on her way to the airport to pick up Yuffie, since it was on her way. After helping Yuffie get settled in her room, she took a peak at the ballroom and was very pleased with all the decorations that had been set up. There were balloons and streamers scattered about the room, all the color of Cloud's eyes. She knew that he would find everything too extravagant, but she also knew that this party was as much for AVALANCHE and all the other guests as it was for him, and she wanted everyone to have a good time. Struggling to rebuild after such catastrophic events had not been easy, but after three years, it seemed that they had been making good progress and deserved to celebrate. Satisfied with the way everything looked, Tifa returned to the weapons shop in order to get dressed.

Tifa had told Cloud that she wanted to take him some place nice for dinner in order to get him to dress up more than usual. She herself had picked out something special for the evening. It was a sleeveless, low-cut cornflower blue cotton sundress that came down to the middle of her thigh and had a bodice that hugged her curves alluringly. It was almost like the one she used to wear long ago when she and Cloud were children. The last time she had worn that dress was when she had asked Cloud to promise her that he would come save her if she ever needed a hero. The second she saw the dress in the store window she had thought of the one from before, and knew that she had to have it. Even though Shinra had been very thorough in its reconstruction of the town, there were some things that once destroyed by the fire, had never been replaced. Her dress was one of those things.

Once home, she showered quickly, and then took her time drying and styling her hair, and getting dressed. She normally didn't bother with her appearance, Cloud never seemed to care one way or the other, and they were always so busy with the store, and before that with the reconstruction of some town or other that it didn't matter what she looked like. However, she thought she could afford to spend time dallying on her appearance today. And Cloud always seemed to appreciate it when she dressed up, if his slack-jawed gaping was any indication.

Her hair was as long and thick as ever. She had never once in her life cut her hair, only trimming it to help it stay healthy. It was her most prized feature. It had reminded her father of her mother, and since they were both dead, not cutting it was her way of honoring their memory. She also realized the kind of power it could hold over a man. She knew the way they would look at it as it fell in waves down her back that they were imagining how it would feel if they could run their hands through it, or how it would look splayed and rumpled across their pillow. It gave her a feeling of power and she would occasionally wield it in order to get what she wanted from Cloud. It was subtle, and yet very effective the way she could touch him without touching him with a few strands of hair. But he had the same power over her with his expressive eyes, those deep blue orbs that glowed with the power of Mako and the feelings in his heart. All it took was a single glance, a bright glare, a chilling stare and she could tell exactly what he wanted, and she would always be quick and ready to oblige. That was how much she loved him.

It took Tifa forever to dry her hair, but when she finished, she brushed it until is shone and then let is simply hang down past her shoulders to a little bit bellow her knees. She usually wore it in a fishtail in order to keep it relatively out of her way, but she knew that Cloud liked it best when it was loose and wavy.

Her make up was applied sparingly; she was lucky to have been blessed with good skin that did not need much for enhancements. She sprayed on a little perfume; _Enticing_ it was called. Then she put on the light dress and a pair of comfortable slippers. They were pretty and delicate looking, but they matched perfectly with the dress, and she could not stand the idea of wearing heels. Heels were such impractical shoes. One could not walk, or run, or fight in them. One could definitely not dance, and Tifa planned on doing a lot of dancing tonight, even if her partner had two left feet, which always amazed her since Cloud was always so graceful in battle.

When Tifa finished dressing, she went downstairs to wait on Cloud who had gone on an errand to visit a customer who had gotten too sick to come to the shop himself, and tell him all about the latest stock he had added to his inventory. He was a boy of about ten who, until he had gotten sick, had come to the shop loyally every Tuesday when Cloud would get a new shipment in. Now he had a serious disease that there seemed to be no cure for. Many other children around the world had somehow contracted the mysterious illness, and an alarming amount of them were dying from it. Everyone hoped that a cure for it would soon be found.

It was while she was waiting for Cloud to return that Tifa noticed a shrill sound like a long protracted scream. At first she thought it was a cat trapped somewhere inside the building getting tortured; that was how irritating the sound was. Then she realized that it couldn't be a cat because even cats weren't that annoying.

She stood up and walked towards the case where the sound seemed to be coming from and discovered that the strange materia she had gotten from the young dark-haired man was beginning to glow and giving of high intermitted…shrieks. The closer she got, the louder it sounded until it was almost unbearable. She made the mistake of touching it in order to see if she could somehow get it to stop. That only made it scream louder, and more terribly than before. She thought her ear drums might burst, and her vision went dark, as if a cold, damp blanket had been thrown over her, blinding her, and weighing her down. She suddenly felt dizzy, as if she were being spun in a million directions all at once. Then she felt herself falling as if the ground beneath her had suddenly vanished. She had felt the sudden terror of such weightlessness once before in her life. When she was a girl and her mother had just died, she'd scoured the Nibel mountains on the off chance that her mother might be waiting for her there just like in the tales she'd heard about how the ghosts of loved ones went into the mountains when they died. She'd tried to take an old bridge across the gigantic crack in the ground and the rope broke, sending her plummeting into darkness. She didn't remember hitting the ground when she was a girl, but she just as suddenly as she seemed to be falling, she suddenly felt the earth rush up to greet her, knocking the breath out of her.

She must have fainted—or maybe she didn't, she couldn't tell—but when she finally came to again she found herself lying in the middle of the floor clutching the green materia. She sat up, and the blood drained from her face. She felt her gorge rise in her throat and closed her eyes tightly in order to keep from vomiting. She breathed in quick shallow gasps until her heart rate began to slow down. Then she chanced opening her eyes. "What the hell happened?" She might have meant what had happened to her physically that had incapacitated her, but she was also confused about the room that looked so familiar, but at the same time was very different.

All the display cases were gone. That was the first thing she noticed. But she didn't think she had been robbed because the displays were replaced by comfortable looking furniture. She began to think that perhaps the room hadn't changed, but that she had been transported to a different building altogether. But the dimensions were exactly the same. Setting the materia down onto the floor, she got up on wobbly legs and saw all the evidence that identified the building as the one she and Cloud had bought a couple of weeks ago. She was in the main room, and there was a door leading to a back room in exactly the same place, as well as another door on the side that she could tell led to a staircase that would take her upstairs to what she knew would be a two bedroom apartment with a bath and a half, full kitchen, and open living area.

She began to worry at the strangeness, and wished more than anything that Cloud would hurry up and return soon. Then she remembered that he had his cell phone on him, so she might as well try to give him a call. She went into the back room that she and Cloud had turned into an office fully equipped with a telephone and fax machine, and actually could not be surprised when she found that those items too were missing, as well as the desk cluttered with paper and the boxes of supplies that they had yet to unpack and arrange. Getting more and more unnerved, she decided to head out to ask any of her neighbors if they had seen anything strange.

Outside was even more disorienting than everything inside had been. The sign hanging above the door of her building said "Furniture Shop" not "Strife-Lockhart Weapons and Materia Shop." In front of her was the well where she and Cloud had met before he went off to SOLDIER, but it didn't look old anymore. Even though the well had been recreated just like everything else that had burnt down in the town, Shinra had taken pains to make it seem authentic and old. The one in front of her looked brand new. It was like she had stepped into one of the black and white photographs she had seen of Nibelheim in the library. The cars in the street were old fashioned and there were even carriages being pulled by chocobos sharing the street. She was overwhelmed by the sent of them, and the smell of rotting garbage that littered the roadways. In the alley next to the shop she could have sworn that she saw a rat sneaking off into a dark corner. She shuddered as it brought back unpleasant memories of the squalor and filth she had become accustomed to when she lived in the Midgar slums.

Not recognizing anybody, she started walking around the circle in the hopes that she might finally see someone she knew. Most people didn't pay any attention to her, but some openly stared at her like she had the word "adulterer" written across her forehead in huge scarlet letters. It was a very unnerving feeling and she hurried to get away from those condemning eyes. Before she knew it she was standing in front of the Shinra mansion, which was just as changed as everything else in town seemed to be. Instead of being worn down and dilapidated it looked well-taken care of. It didn't look quite new the way the well had been. The well seemed like it had not been in use very long, but the house definitely seemed like it was put to use. In fact a group of people had just gone inside of it, which struck Tifa as very odd. Even though the incident had taken place almost ten years ago, nobody ever went inside the mansion. The townspeople felt it was haunted, and in many ways it was filled with the ghosts of all those who had died in Nibelheim. Not recognizing anyone in that group either, she was about to turn around to head back into town when she saw Cloud coming towards her from the path that led to Mt. Nibel.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, running towards him and launching herself in his arms. "Something's different. I don't know what it is, but everything about this place is different," she began, rambling. "I'm beginning to wonder if we should have come back—"

"Pardon me, ma'am, but I would be much obliged if you would let go of me," a strange voice requested of Tifa.

"Cloud?" The man had the same eyes, though without the Mako glow, and the same bright yellow hair, only it was much longer and tied back with a leather thong. Looking at him more thoroughly, she didn't know how she had confused this man with Cloud, other than that she simply wished it were him. He could have been Cloud's brother, though, they were so similar in appearance.

"Who is that?"

"You're not Cloud," she stated slowly and confusedly. "But you look just like—"

"Why are you in such a state of undress?" the stranger asked, his eyes staring hard at the exposed skin of her bosom, and then drifting down her rounded curves, to the modest hem of her dress that stopped mid-thigh. She wasn't really underdressed considering how she used to wear much shorter skirts, and much tighter t-shirts. She felt a shiver run through her at the intimate way he was looking at her. His resemblance to Cloud was so striking she felt her body automatically respond despite herself. "Are you in need of a _companion_?" As he drawled out the last word he stepped towards her, and laid a hand on her thigh. Her breath caught in surprise, and her eyes locked onto his blue ones. His other hand went to her waist, and then they both drifted upwards, one slipping underneath her skirt to caress the soft skin of her inner thigh, and the other one tickled her rib and barely came into contact with the underside of her full breast. Tifa was shocked into immobility. He leaned in ever more closely to whisper, "You're a very pretty girl…with the softest skin…how much do you want?"

Tifa's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"How much do you want for your services?"

"I'm not that kind of girl," she said, pushing him away.

But the stranger would not be deterred. He shoved his hand underneath her skirt once again. "You sure as hell look like one, what with you prancing around here half naked, and letting me feel you up!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Why else would you let a random stranger touch you like this?" he asked as he grabbed her behind and squeezed a breast.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, as she once again pushed him away more forcefully.

When she tried to get away from him, he grabbed her arm. "Hey, don't get mad at me. You're the one who's a fucking cocktease!"

"I am not!" she exclaimed as she wrenched her arm free. He tried to grab her again, this time by both arms, but she blocked him, and then kicked him in the thigh aiming for his groin, but he neatly managed to turn his body away from her real target. Then she spun around and took off for the woods running as fast as she could.

She didn't have any direction in mind; she only knew that she had to get as far away from the Cloud look-alike as possible. She ran and ran until she felt her lungs burning in her chest. She slowed to a walk, and then stopped to lean against a tree as her mind raced. Could it be? Even though she was certain that the Cloud she knew and loved was the same boy she had spent her childhood with, perhaps Hojo _had_ been successful in his cloning experiments. Perhaps Sephiroth had not been completely bluffing when he had taunted Cloud. But if that were true, what was he doing there in Nibelheim? And were there more?

But the question of the man who looked like Cloud, but was so obviously not him only raised more questions. Like why was everything at once so familiar and yet different? She was sure that she was in Nibelheim, and yet everything was different. Everything looked newer, and younger.

The more immediate question was, however, where was she. As a child she had roamed the woods and mountains around her hometown, and they were as familiar to her as her own face. But these woods were unfamiliar. The foliage was younger, thicker, greener. Even the geology of the rocks was different. She couldn't find a single landmark that looked familiar to her. And evening was beginning to fall. As the sunlight began to disappear she realized just how much danger she was in.

She was alone, in an unfamiliar wood. She didn't have her PHS with her in order to try to contact someone with. Nor did she have her fighting gloves, armor, or any materia to protect herself with. She wished that she hadn't left the strange green magic materia in the furniture shop. Even if she didn't know what it was, it might eventually be of some use to her. Most of the monsters had been eradicated, but one never knew. And even if there weren't any monsters, the natural forest creatures could still be dangerous, if one did not know how to avoid them.

Tifa tried not to cry thinking about how stupid she had been to run off so heedlessly. She tried to reassure herself with the thought that Cloud was surely getting worried about her since she was supposed to be waiting for him at their shop. When she wasn't there like she was supposed to be, he would come to look for her. Until then she could try to retrace her steps. The only problem with that was that she could end up walking deeper into the forest and even more out of range of Cloud's rescue. She surely couldn't stay in the middle of the forest exposed to all elements, though. She wasn't sure how long she would be out there, even though she was positive that Cloud would come to her rescue. He always did.

So, determined to find some shelter, she set off into the woods. She walked toward the mountain in front of her reasoning that the area around her home could not have changed too much and that the caves that the area was known for would still be there. As she walked deeper into the forest she realized that some things were becoming more familiar to her. Straight ahead there was a thousand year old tree, the oldest in the woods she was sure. And if that tree was still there, then it meant the Mt. Nibel reactor was nearby. She would surely find shelter there, even though the idea of going back to the place where all her nightmares began made her shudder with dread. Since she and Cloud had moved back to Nibelheim, they had never gone to visit the old defunct reactor.

But when she got to the crevasse near the base of the mountain there was no bridge for her to cross in order to get to the other side. It wasn't even as if the bridge had broken, like it had been prone to do, as when it had put her in a coma for seven days, or when she had led Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud across. It didn't even seem as if a bridge had ever been built there.

Confusion set in along with the darkness. And having run out of ideas, she just decided to sit down where she was and wait. Even though it was August, in the higher elevation of the mountains the air got very cool when night fell. Tifa shivered in her light dress and let her tears fall unbidden. Something strange had happened that she couldn't explain, and she was lost and alone. She missed Cloud, and wanted more than anything to be at home wrapped in his arms.

In her misery she didn't hear the pounding of chocobo feet until they were almost upon her.

"Whoa!" a voice shouted as the chocobo reared up in order to avoid trampling over Tifa.

Another rider stopped right beside her.

"What in 'ell are ya doin' 'ere? Don't you know that ladies are in danger this time o' night out in the woods?"

"Are you sure she's a lady? She ain't got no clothes on!" the other exclaimed.

"I most certainly am a lady!" said Tifa, standing up. She was getting tired of people insinuating that she was a prostitute.

"Well, it's no matter. As she's a seen us, we'll have to take her wi' us."

"What!" Tifa exclaimed as the man on the chocobo closest to her grabbed her by the arm and threw her over his lap. "Let me go!" Not expecting a fight from her, the man had let her go, so she launched herself off of the chocobo to land in heap on the ground. Then she immediately got up and began running back into the forest.

"Shit!" her would-be captor exclaimed. Then spurring his chocobo into action, he rode after her. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her, and this time as he reached down to grab her, he planned to incapacitate her. He struck out a fist to knock her out, but she easily dodged him. Then after he galloped past her she ran behind him and jumped onto the back of the chocobo, wrapping her arms around his neck to choke him. In order to get her off his back, he threw all of his weight to the side and they went tumbling to the ground. They landed on their sides and Tifa had the wind knocked out of her. She rolled onto her back and then kicked up into fighting position as the man turned around.

"We wasn't goin' ta hurt ya, ye wee 'ellcat. But I certainly am now," the man growled. Then he lunged for her.

Tifa was ready for him. She blocked his fist and then using his forward motion she twisted and sent him sprawling to the ground. She immediately followed up with kick to the head, but he caught her foot and knocked her to the ground. Rolling after her, he tried to punch her, but she blocked him again and rolled away. When she was far enough away, she got up and saw that he had gotten up as well. She returned to her fighting stance with her fists up, and legs braced apart. Then they began circling each other. Suddenly, he charged, but his big size made him slow. She easily dodged him, and as he went by she elbowed his kidney.

"You bitch!" he shrieked. He was so blinded by his anger that he had left his entire body open to attack.

Tifa smirked. He was going down. Then she launched at him with a barrage of hits, punching him in the face, chest, sides, and then a roundhouse kick snapped his head to the side and he went down heavily. She approached him cautiously to make sure that he was unconscious. Then she turned around to look for his chocobo.

She found herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"I'll thank you, miss, to step away from that body."

Tifa's fists and feet were fast as lightning, but were still no match for the speed of a bullet. She slowly backed away.

The sun was hidden behind the mountain, but a red gold light still filtered through the trees. A bright full moon also showed in the distance. In the relative darkness all she saw was a shadowy figure with a pale face.

She stood there silently as he bent down to check the man's pulse, gun still leveled evenly on her. He pulled out some handcuffs, and tried to put them on the man, but found it difficult to do one-handed. After struggling for a few moments, he cursed and then stood up. "All right, miss," he said startling her. She was struck by how familiar his voice seemed. "I do not know who you are, but you just made my job a little easier by incapacitating this man. What I need you to do now is handcuff him." He waved the gun at her for emphasis. Tifa immediately knelt down to do as he asked. As she set to her task she tried to think about who his voice reminded her of. It was deep and resonant in a way that few people were, but it was mostly the way he said things. The way he called her "miss," so respectful and yet mocking at the same time. She only knew one person who called her "miss." _The others are waiting for you, Miss Lockhart. Your hair has come undone, Miss Lockhart. Are you all right, Miss Lockhart?_ Even though she insisted he call her Tifa. She thought he did it on purpose just to piss her off.

When she finished, she looked up and was astonished when she got a clear view of his face.

"Vincent?" Tifa gasped in shock. She fell back right on her rear end and began to shake her head fervently. "But…you're dead! I saw you die!"

"Do I know you?" he asked, puzzled by her reaction.

"Something's wrong. Very wrong. First this guy that looks like Cloud tries to assault me, then I get lost in the Nibel mountains, which is impossible because I spent almost my whole life exploring these mountains! And now you've come back from the dead. I must be dreaming." She began to shiver. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" she whispered to herself. Then she pinched herself. "Ow!" It was too painful not to be real…but then how could any of this be?

"Miss, are you all right?" the man asked, lowering his weapon, and reaching out to try to calm her.

Tifa looked up, startled out of her daze by his words. It was then that she noticed that while he surely looked like her Vincent, there was also something different about him. His hair no longer hung past his shoulders in disheveled waves, but was cut to about chin-length with unkempt bangs. He was wearing a dark suit with a startling white shirt that contrasted with her recollection of him in a long red tattered cloak that covered his face half the time. She could see his jaw clearly, and lips that pleasingly weren't too thin, or too full. He'd put his left hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and she was surprised to see that instead of a mythril-plated claw with sharp talons, there were long shapely fingers. Most startlingly different about him, though, were his eyes. Instead of the eerie glow that marked him as an experiment of Hojo's as she'd been used to seeing, his eyes were the warm color of brandy. Taking all these differences into account, she tried not to think about what her mind was telling her.

"Vincent, would you be so kind as to tell me the date?"

"First, I'd like to know how you know my name," he demanded.

"Just tell me the goddamned date!" she shrieked hysterically.

Sensing that it would just be easiest if he appeased her, he told her. "It's August 11th." Cloud's birthday.

"No, I mean the year."

If he thought it was an odd question, he didn't say anything. "It's 1963."

Tifa thought she might be ill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Materia of Time: Chapter 2**

Tifa could not believe it. Somehow she'd traveled thirty-eight years into the past. Actually, she could believe it. She'd been hit over the head with the evidence of it ever since she had come back into the weapons shop that was at present a furniture shop. That was why everything in Nibelheim seemed new. From what she could remember from the history books, the "old" well had been built in 1961, a couple of years before her father's family had moved to the growing township. It also explained why she didn't recognize any of the people even though there was that man who looked so much like Cloud she suspected that there was a relationship there somewhere. And most importantly it explained why Vincent Valentine was alive and standing right in front of her. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been covered in a pool of his own blood. It had fanned out around him like wings, like the wings of the monster that had overtaken his soul.

Hysterical laughter bubbled up inside of her, demanding to be released. What started out as a snort as she tried to stifle the emotion, only spurned her into laughing harder and louder, startling her companion. "Are you all right, miss?"

She couldn't seem to control it. Peals of laughter poured out from her, until she could hardly breathe. The harder she tried to control it, the more she seemed to laugh until tears began to stream down her face. She laughed for what felt like a decade, breathing hard, and she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. After a while she managed to calm herself down. "You…you…must think I'm…crazy," she hiccupped.

"No," Vincent replied, surprising Tifa. "Questioning one's sanity in a world full of greed, lust, and acts of depravity and evil is quite natural, all things considered," he explained, answering her unvoiced query. "Sanity is only relative, depending upon one's point of view. To you what may seem sane may seem insane to me…and vice versa. I am sure you have your reasons for your puzzling response to my mention of the date."

Tifa twisted her lips in a wry smile. "You were always quite the philosopher."

"'Were?'" Vincent asked astutely, raising one thin brow in curious inquiry.

"Are—" Tifa quickly amended. "You _are _quite the philosopher. One need only spend a few moments in your company to discover that truth—in case you were wondering how I know that about you."

Vincent stared down at her skeptically. "I have no doubt that what you say about me is true, but I believe you know more than you are telling me at the moment. But I am a patient man, and right now I have more pressing matters than what you know and how you know it."

"Like what?"

"I need to get rid of the man you helped me apprehend and then go after the group he was with."

Tifa shook her head. "No!" Was she protesting that Vincent not kill the man who tried to kidnap her? But the idea of watching Vincent murder someone in cold blood rather than the heat of battle gave Tifa pause. "You have to help me get back to Nibelheim."

"And why should I do that?" Vincent asked. "From what I've seen you are a gifted fighter who could prove quite dangerous as an adversary. You also seem to know who I am. You must be aware of what I do."

Vincent watched her very carefully, waiting for some kind of response. Even though the woman did not respond audibly, she shook her head almost imperceptibly. Despite that he had a feeling that she knew more than she was letting on. The Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department of the Shinra Electric Power Company, made up of a group of elite special force agents, had only been created recently, and was as far as he knew, still secret. For her to know who and what he was indicated to him that she was very dangerous. "I'll take that as a yes." When she continued with her stubborn silence, Vincent continued, "I'm beginning to think that you are a spy. One who my superior will be happy to interrogate just as soon as I can get you to him."

"I am not a spy," Tifa declared authoritatively, standing up.

"Then would you care to explain how you know who I am?" Vincent asked disbelievingly.

She shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me if I tried. But I'll make you a deal. If you help me get back to Nibelheim, I'll answer every question you or your superior can come up with."

Vincent weighed his options. The woman, who had yet to tell him her name, had thrown a wrench into his plans. He was supposed to be trailing after the group until he got to Traverse Town where he would acquire a means of getting back to Midgar. There he would report back the information he had been able to discover during the mission he had been on for the past month. Now he had two potential captives—one that wasn't supposed to see him, and another who would slow him down if he took the time to question her to see if she was worth capturing at all.

The unconscious man was a part of a group that had only been a nuisance before, but now had become an all out threat to the security of the Shinra Electric Company, and seemed to threaten the peace of the innocent and not so innocent around the world. They preyed on the weak, and left only paths of destruction in their wake. He had only wanted to help the woman, and that initial feeling did not dissipate even after learning that she too was a potential threat. It would be much easier if he could get her to cooperate. He needed to convince her to come with him.

"You are in no position to make deals with me," Vincent finally said, fingering his gun nonchalantly. Tifa noticed idly that his gun was equipped with low-level materia. For some reason, she didn't think that at that time the use of materia had become commonplace yet. The fact that Vincent had threatened her, although subtly, surprised her, and reminded her that even though she may know Vincent, she did not know _this _Vincent. She wondered what else about him was different. This Vincent made her nervous. She had a feeling that he would kill her just as easily as he would kill the other man, if he weren't so curious about her. The Vincent she knew killed, but not without a reason, and always with regret, adding it to all of the other sins he was forced to bear. Did this Vincent feel remorse? If this younger Vincent only knew what was to come, perhaps he would rethink his life. "But," Vincent continued, interrupting Tifa's thoughts, "I would rather not kill you, since I don't know what you know yet. So I want you to help me find this man's chocobo. We'll need it if I am to take you anywhere."

Tifa sighed with relief at the reprieve that Vincent had given her. "All right. I'll help you find the chocobo." She began to head off towards the woods, but Vincent grabbed her arm.

"Before you do that, though, there's one question I must ask, and you must provide me with the answer."

"What's that?" Tifa asked guardedly, noting the strength of his grip.

"What is your name?"

Tifa smiled sheepishly. "That I can tell you. My name is Tifa Lockhart."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lockhart," Vincent replied courteously.

Tifa groaned inwardly.

* * *

"Should we wait for 'im?" asked one of Vincent's hostage's companions as they waited for him several miles away from the place where they had first spotted Tifa.

"We've waited long enough," Murphy responded. "Ye know what ar' orders are, and we canna dawdle any longer just so Bill can finish diddling that 'lil strumpet we found earlier. Should 'ave known better than to let 'im go after 'er…" he murmured under his breath. Bill had always had a blind spot when it came to the ladies. Stopped thinking with his brain, and started thinking with the snake in his pants. "We need to get going. We'll no get to Traverse Town until tomorra at this rate."

"But what if something 'ad 'appened to 'im?" chimed in another member of the gang. There were four of them total, excluding Bill.

"There ain't much we could do for 'im then, now is there? If e's as 'urt than we canna get 'im to a 'ospital because e's a wanted man. An' iffen 'e's a dead, well then there's no thing to be done about that, now is there?" Murphy glared at his companion.

"Yer, right about that. I just have a bad feelin' about 'im an that lass. Where did she come from anyhow? What is an 'alf nekkid girl doin' out in these parst of the woods all by her lonesome?"

"There's only one reason for a girl to be out by 'erself in these woods," chimed in another voice. "She's a witch! I've 'eard o' them. They come out when the moon is jes' like it is tonight and do scandalous elemental rituals. I hear that they can manipulate fire and water, and even lightening."

Murphy began to laugh. "Ye believe in witches now? What is it with people in believing that something that ye don' understand is magic? There was nothing magical about that girl. She was just as much flesh and blood as ye and me are. But I dinna know what she was doin' out 'ere, and I don' care neither."

"Ye may not want to believe what I'm sayin' an' that's right as rain. But I know what I'm sayin' cuz I've seen it! I've seen that kind of magic with my own two eyes, and it scared the Odin out o' me. I'd rather no see it again. So I think it be best if we get movin' like Murphy says."

Even though none of the men would admit it, they began to feel uneasy at the talk of witchcraft and Bill's long absence. They also had a long night of hard travel ahead of them, and it would be best if they got started on it. Sitting on top of his black Chocobo, Murphy led the way.

* * *

Believing that the man was down for the count, Vincent simply left him tied up, and followed Tifa into the woods. The chocobo could have gone anywhere by then, but he was hoping that it had decided to stay near its rider.

The easiest way to track it was to start off where it was last seen. Tifa thought that it had headed northeast, towards where it had come from, where the mako reactor would have been if it had been built at that time. It made fairly obvious marks in the forest; deep three-clawed footprints. She didn't think it would go far, since what she knew of chocobos was that they were fairly social creatures and if they were not in a natural flock or herd, (she could never remember which was the correct terminology,) then they liked to stay close to their keepers. This she told Vincent who had refused to let her out of his sight, much to her annoyance. She had hoped to find away to escape Vincent and find the chocobo on her own so that she could return to Nibelheim. Unfortunately she did not get her chance before they found the chocobo, who was grazing in an open copse not too far away from where his master had been felled.

"That was too easy," Vincent said, pleased nonetheless that part of his task was accomplished. Of course, the hard part would be him trying to manage getting on the smelly, obstinate and repulsive creature. He could do it. He just wasn't sure how.

He motioned for Tifa to climb onto the chocobo. He watched with resentment as she gracefully mounted the animal without fear. If she could do it, then certainly he could. He was the best of the best after all. He had joined Shinra's SOLDIER at the tender age of fifteen and had quickly been promoted through the ranks. He could assemble and reassemble a rifle in less than a minute with his eyes closed! He could kill a man with his bare hands! He could stare down death with no fear! There was no way that he would let a silly chocobo get the best of him. And especially not in front of Miss Lockhart.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I'm just waiting for the creature to get used to your weight."

"That's…considerate," Tifa replied nonplussed.

Slowly Vincent stepped toward the animal. When it snorted at him, he quickly took a step backward, but tried to cover up his fear by feigning to look down at its foot. "It has good sound…feet. This should get us caught up with the others quickly."

"You don't have to look at its feet to tell that. Just look at the way it stands. Straight-backed and agile. This blue's a born runner. Aren't you, Blue?" Tifa asked the bird, petting his head affectionately.

"I know that! But you can also look at its feet."

"Riiiight…" Tifa responded noncommittally. "All right, time for you to hop on so that we can go get your man."

Vincent again stepped toward the creature and raised one leg up to put his foot in the stirrup. Then he awkwardly grabbed the saddle and hoisted himself up and behind Tifa. When the chocobo shook slightly in order to settle their weight more comfortably, Vincent feared that he would fall off and grasped onto Tifa tightly with a vice grip.

"Vincent, you're crushing me!" Tifa exclaimed.

Vincent tried to steady himself on the unusual seat, and eventually loosened his grip on Tifa, and instead began to grip the chocobo with his thighs. This immediately signaled to the animal that the riders wanted to go fast, and set off immediately at a gallop. Caught off guard, Vincent again reached for Tifa.

Tifa was startled by his tight grasp, but did not find it unwelcome. She could sense that he was uncomfortable and it surprised her. She did not think that Vincent had been afraid of anything, and yet there he was clinging to her like she was a lifeline. And perhaps she was. She stifled a laugh.

"Vincent, relax!" she commanded, not really expecting him to comply.

"How can you expect me to relax when my life hangs in the balance of a 1000 pound bird?"

"If you don't relax, the bird will never slow down. You do realize that your squeezing it is the reason why it's going so fast."

Vincent experimentally relaxed his thighs and was gratified to find that the bird began to slow down. By the time the bird had slowed to a walk, Vincent had relaxed his grip on Tifa as well, leaving her feeling strangely dissatisfied. Pushing the feeling aside she asked, "How is it that a man like you is afraid of chocobos?"

"I'm not afraid," Vincent quickly retorted. "I just find everything to do with chocobos…revolting."

That statement made Tifa laugh. The gentle peals of mirth warmed a part of Vincent that he could not identify, but could not help but smile as well. Petting the animal absentmindedly, Tifa asked, "So then why do you find such wonderful, adorable, _gentle _creatures so repulsive?"

Vincent shrugged. "I'm a city boy. What can I say?"

Tifa straightened up at that and turned in her seat to look at him intently. "I never knew that about you. I never even thought about what your life had been like before…but you must have grown up somewhere. Where did you grow up?"

Vincent debated about answering her. On the one hand, he liked to keep personal information about himself private. There were things about him that Veld, the man who he reported to, did not even know about. On the other hand, Tifa already seemed to know a lot about him. And she knew that he disliked chocobos in a manner that most would characterize as fear. What more harmful thing could she know about him? He finally decided to answer her. "Midgar."

Sure that he was going to close up on her, just the way the other Vincent had whenever she dared to get personal, Tifa was pleased that he finally responded. "What sector?"

"There are no…sectors." At least not yet. Midgar was actually a group of towns that had merged together. But there were plans to build a plate on top of the city in order to accommodate the ever growing population. He wasn't even supposed to know about it, but a friend of his had tipped him off to it, in order to get him to invest in a piece of real estate that's value was about to skyrocket thanks to Shinra Electric Company.

"Oh…I guess you're right…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes alighted on a possible means of escape. Ahead of them was a fallen tree, large enough that would require them to jump over it. If she could get the bird to rear up high enough, maybe she'd be able to shake off Vincent, and make her escape. She felt a little guilty about her plan, because a fall could be potentially harmful, and it would leave him stranded in the middle of the woods. But at the moment it was her best bet in getting away from him and returning to Nibelheim, even though she wasn't exactly sure where they were.

As Vincent began to pull on the reigns to circumvent the tree, Tifa jerked on them to send the bird into a gallop straight towards the tree. When Vincent saw this he yanked viciously on the reigns, causing the bird to rear up and send them both hurtling towards the ground. It was the second time that Tifa had been thrown from the bird that day, and even though she managed to land on top of Vincent this time, she still felt the effects rattling through her bones. She was sure she was covered all over with bruises.

Stunned, and with the wind knocked out of him, Vincent simply lay there with Tifa on top of him. Then he struggled to sit up and pushed her off of him. "That is exactly why I hate those things! Unpredictable and dangerous!"

"It wouldn't have reared up like that if you hadn't pulled so hard on the reigns."

"I was just trying to stop it from jumping that tree! I know better than to try to jump something that high, it could have unseated us."

"No, it wouldn't have. Not if it had enough speed."

"I think you wanted it to unseat us, or at least me in particular." He raised his gun and pointed it at her. "Then you could have made your escape."

Tifa shoved his gun away aggravated, trying to cover up her guilt and hoping her blush wasn't showing in the darkness. "Will you stop pointing that thing at me? Why would I want to run away from you when I have no idea where we are? And that move would have been particularly dangerous considering what a bad rider you are and that we didn't even jump and you still managed to fall! It could have killed you—us!"

Vincent lowered his weapon. "I'm glad you see it my way. But I still don't believe you. You grabbed the reigns from me for a reason. But I'll just let you know up front that if you try to run away from me, I'll come after you. And I will not be nice. Besides, you'll be better off with me. You are in the woods. It's dark. And you have no weapon."

"I'll keep that in mind," Tifa replied stepping toward the big blue bird. "Thanks a lot," she whispered sardonically to it, while rubbing at her sore backside.

Vincent cautiously approached them both. "We should head back to our captive now."

"Yes, you're right."

Resignedly he climbed on top of the bird after her, and they resumed their journey. It took them a while to find their way back. By that time it had gotten even darker, as cloud cover had blocked the moon's light. Vincent began to doubt the wisdom of leaving his captive, even bound up as he was. It was hard to see where they were without the light of the moon to guide them. But he was pretty sure that they were heading in the right direction. When they finally made it back to the spot where they left the man, Vincent was disturbed to find that he had disappeared. There were no signs of struggle, or that some creature had gotten hold of him. Vincent could only assume that he had gotten up and run away. He would have no time to go after him. Luckily, it wasn't important that he keep up with the man. The important part was getting to Traverse Town. And now that he had a chocobo, he felt that he would be able to do it more easily.

When he motioned for her to get back on the chocobo, Tifa looked at him curiously. "Aren't you going to go after the man?"

"I do not have time to go searching for him. He did not see me, so if he somehow makes his way back to Nibelheim or to his group, he would have nothing to tell them, other than how he got beaten by a girl, which I doubt he would admit to."

"I guess you're right about that," Tifa admitted with a smug grin. "That guy definitely didn't see it coming. People—men especially—always underestimate me."

"Is that a threat?"

Tifa shook her head and lithely hopped onto the chocobo's back. "Just a statement of fact. You would be wise not to make the same mistake."

"I most definitely will not be making the same mistake. I've seen you in action. I know that you are far more dangerous than you let on. I'm wary of you, Miss Lockhart. Which is why I plan to keep you close."

"Keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that?"

"Something like that." Again he grabbed the saddle and hoisted himself up, less awkwardly this time. Instead of grabbing onto Tifa for dear life he managed to seat himself securely behind her, pressing up against her to keep himself from falling off. It was then that he noticed the clean scent of her hair, and the way the soft strands tickled his chin. He was a head taller than her, and she seemed to fit into a comfortable niche in front of him. If he had thought that riding on a chocobo could be this pleasurable, he would have done it much longer ago.

Tifa was grateful for the warmth that Vincent provided. With the onset of night she had begun to feel chilly with only her thin cotton dress to provide her any protection. She unconsciously snuggled into his arms, with her back pressed flush against him. Neither of them conscious of their inaction, they just sat there calmly on the back of the chocobo, basking in the comfort of the surprising intimacy of their situation. Tifa closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Everything about her experiences had the surreal quality of a dream. Was she really thirty years in the past with Vincent? Or would she suddenly wake up and find herself at home in bed with Cloud? In the silence and the darkness she could almost pretend that she was asleep and that the arms holding her tightly, but not uncomfortably, close to him were the arms of Cloud. Vincent felt different, though. He was taller and lankier, while Cloud was shorter and slightly more muscular. She could also feel Vincent's awkwardness on the animal, while Cloud was a natural born rider.

When the chocobo let out a soft bark of impatience, Tifa was startled out of her immobility. Vincent straightened his back and moved as far away from Tifa as he could, which wasn't very far. "We need to get moving. I assume that you know how to lead this thing. Can you get it to follow the trail of the others?"

"I think so," Tifa replied. She too, leaned slightly forward to get away from the puzzling man and signaled with the reigns for the bird to move. With the bird's movement they were jostled against one another again.

They rode the chocobo for at least half an hour, awkwardly since they both did their best to touch one another as little as possible. It was an impossible task, since with every movement, Vincent felt the back of Tifa's legs pressing in to him, and her back press against his chest. And even though Tifa tried to lean slightly forward, every once in a while her head would bump against his chin. Finally, Tifa became bored and asked the question that had been weighing on her mind since the beginning of their journey.

"Where are we going?"

"Hopefully, we are heading towards Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town? Where is that? I don't think I've heard of it before."

"It is on the other side of the Nibel mountain range to the north. It's not a particularly large place, but its location has made it a pretty good crossroads for anyone wanting to get to Wutai or the Northern Continent. Which is why it was named as such, when it was founded about thirty years ago."

"Wow, Vincent, you're like a living breathing history book. And now that you mention it, I think I read about it once." Traverse Town was what Rocket Town used to be called before Shinra constructed the rocket there and had the town renamed. She wondered if Cid lived there…still…or would it be yet? She knew he had to have been in his 30s when she first met him, but she could never remember his exact age. For some reason the wily old coot had always kept it a secret. She wondered what he had been like as a child. A tow-headed angel, or a sandy-haired devil? She would stake her life on the latter. Hopefully, he hadn't picked up his more colorful vocabulary yet. She couldn't help but feel a thrill at the thought of possibly meeting him. Maybe she'd get a chance…

Maybe she'd get to see her father again. He'd be just as young as Vincent, maybe a little older. And he wouldn't recognize her, but she'd recognize him. It had been so long since she'd seen him. She could remember the last time, even though she had begun to forget what he looked like, which saddened her. She couldn't remember what her mother looked like at all. All photographs of her family had been destroyed in the fire Sephiroth had set in his rage, and unlike the photo of her with Zack and Sephiroth and other random facsimiles that Shinra had tried to recreate in their elaborate cover-up, those had not been restored. All she could remember of her was thick dark hair, like her own, and the smell of lavender. If she saw her own mother in town, would she be able to recognize her?

What if Vincent knew her parents? She never thought to ask him before, but he had to have been in Nibelheim while they were there. Four years from now Vincent would be shot dead and then brought back to life thanks to Hojo's experimentations. But Tifa knew little of the life that Vincent had lead before then. If Vincent came from Midgar, where did he live? What was his family like? Who were his friends? While in Nibelhiem had he ever met a young man named Lionel Lockhart, or a young woman named Ivory Keyes who would become a famous concert pianist and pass on her talent to her daughter? Suddenly very curious, Tifa decided she might as well ask. The worse that he could say was, no he hadn't heard of either figure. But if he did know them, he could tell her things about her parents that she never thought she would get the chance to learn.

"Have you ever met Lionel Lockhart or Ivory Keyes?"

"Who are they to you?"

"No one in particular." _Liar_, Tifa thought to herself, glad that Vincent could not read minds.

"Lockhart, you say? Is he some relation to you?"

Point one to Vincent. "No…ahh…yes, I mean. We are somewhat related, but I've never met him before, and I was just wondering if you had…"

"You mean _the _Ivory Keyes?" Vincent raised his brows skeptically at her interest in the child prodigy. "I can't say that I've had the honor and privilege of meeting the pianist." Tifa could not hide her disappointment, which Vincent noticed curiously. "But I do know Dr. Lionel Lockhart." Tifa immediately brightened. "He was a professor of political science at Fort Condor University, and I had to take a course with him as part of my…training."

A professor? Her father? At this time? How was it possible? How come she had never heard of it before then? "Isn't he a little young to be a professor at a university?"

"That old man? Young? He was so old I was waiting for him to keel over in the middle of a lecture so that I could get out of taking the final exam. I hear he finally died off a couple of years back."

Not her father, then but maybe her grandfather, or great grandfather? She didn't think her father had been named after his own father, but someone else in the family. She couldn't remember, like she couldn't remember a lot about her family history. "It doesn't seem like you cared for him very much."

"Oh, I liked him as a person well enough. His lectures would have the students laughing out loud at his antics, even as you were cringing at his vulgarity and crudeness. But he was a hardass when it came to tests. It was as if he expected us young, brash, and damned-right cocky military recruits to actual _read _the text. At that point in my life, I was just ready to fight, and I didn't want to read about it in some history book."

"I never knew you went to university Vincent," Tifa said smiling with genuine interest.

"That shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you since before today, I'd never laid eyes on you." Point two to Vincent. Tifa really had to learn not to keep slipping up like she had been. "But the way you talk, it would seem that we've met, and are even busom buddies."

"I know that. You're right. I've been much too familiar with you, when I have no reason to be."

"Now have I managed to satisfy your curiosity? Or is there more that you want to know?"

"No and yes."

"What?"

"No, you haven't satisfied my curiosity. And yes there is more that I want to know."

"Like what?"

"Why are you following that group that tried to kidnap me?"

"Consider them pests that need to be exterminated."

Tifa felt a cold chill penetrate her spine. She shuddered. Something about the way he said it reinforced the idea that she should be cautious. There was a kind of ruthlessness in him that reminded her that even though the Turks had eventually become an ally, they were still quite dangerous as foes. She had no doubt that the group in question would soon learn the consequences of their actions.

* * *

The two rode at a steady, but unhurried pace throughout the night. The terrain changed from the verdant foliage of the forest to barren stone and rock as they skirted around the base of the imposing mountain Nibelheim was named for. Somehow Tifa managed to fall asleep sitting up, wrapped in Vincent's arms. As the sun began its ascent into the sky, she woke up and asked Vincent if they could stop for a moment. Guessing as to why she needed to get down and feeling the same urge pressing on his own bladder, he consented. He even allowed her to go a little ways off on her own to give her some privacy, trusting that she wasn't foolish enough to try to run away when she was in the middle of unfamiliar territory with no idea where she was.

It was because they had strayed away from the safety of familiar trails, following the tracks of his targets, and instead trekked their way around the mountain, rather than through it, as it was the fastest route, that he was caught off guard when a dark blur attacked him. Immediately crouching low and trying to find cover, his first thought was to figure out where Tifa was. Deciding that he had no time to worry about her whereabouts, he turned his attention towards his unknown enemy and began to fire his weapon.

* * *

Tifa had been trying to wipe some of the sleep from her face with the hem of her dress when she heard the first bullet. She immediately turned in the direction she had come from wondering if Vincent had decided to change his mind and just off her. But if Vincent wanted her dead, he wouldn't have missed. Then she began to wonder if perhaps Vincent was in trouble. She began to make her way back towards where she had left Vincent, but paused when she heard an animal roar.

Now was her chance to escape! Vincent was distracted by an unknown enemy. He could not pay attention to both her and the enemy if he wanted to make it out of there alive. But the part of her that was still loyal to the Vincent that she knew would not let her escape from him. He was in danger now, and if she were to leave him, it would make him vulnerable. She also did not know where she would escape to if she left him. Even though she was wary of him, he was her only ally at the moment and she didn't want to lose that, if she could help it. Sure of her decision she ran back to Vincent.

When she came up upon him, he was crouched behind a big rock, looking out of the forest. She was startled when he suddenly turned around and pointed the gun at her. "I'm surprised you're still here. I would have thought you would have run away while I was distracted."

"I thought about it," Tifa admitted, with a small smile as he put the gun down.

"So what made you decide to stay?"

"Because I need your help. And at the moment, you need mine." Tifa gasped when she saw a bright red stain begin to spread on the crisp white linen of his shirt. "You're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch."

"Let me see!" Tifa demanded, moving over to sit beside him. She reached for his jacket to take it off him, but he pushed her away.

"I don't have time for your ministrations! That thing could come back at any moment!"

Acquiescing, Tifa turned towards the barren rock on the side of the mountain that Vincent was fixated on watching. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Like a scorpion, but not. Bigger. But it seems to be able to camouflage itself. I saw it go towards the mountain and then it just disappeared."

_A monster?_ thought Tifa. _But I didn't think there were any monsters until the mako reactor was built. Could it be that someone has already started experimenting with the stuff?_

"Do you know what it was?" Vincent asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm not sure. But the key to getting that thing is knowing when to heal yourself, or let someone else heal you, and when to attack, or else something that might not necessarily incapacitate you, may give the other side the upper hand with a well placed hit." She reached for his jacket again and gave him her sternest look, saying, "Now let me look at your chest!"

Vincent raised an ironic brow at her choice of words, but yielded, letting her take off his jacket, causing her to blush deeply and bite her lip in amusement. Then, figuring his shirt was ruined anyway, she ripped it open, careless of the buttons that she tore off with the rough way she was handling him. Tifa couldn't help but admire as she surveyed the damage. During her travels during the Meteor crisis, she had seen many wounds. But never Vincent's. Because of Hojo's experiments Vincent was invulnerable. Tiny scratches had healed instantly, and if he had ever been more seriously injured, he kept himself closely guarded—and clothed—until he was completely healed, never letting anyone near him, even if they offered to help. But there he was: wiry muscles, flat stomach, a little bit pale and a little thin, but as strong as steel. There was a small angry-looking tear in the flesh of his side that had yet to stop bleeding. "Give me your gun."

"What do you need my gun for? Unless you plan to shoot me and make your merry way out of here, I see no reason for me to give it to you."

"Your materia! I can see you have a restore equipped on your gun." _And fire too, _she thought_. It may be low level, but it could come in handy._

"You know how to use materia? I don't even know how to use materia!"

"Why not?"

"I haven't had any use for it, really. I prefer to use a bullet over magic."

"Magic can be a very useful, not to mention powerful, ally if you know how to use it." Even though Vincent hadn't handed her the gun, he hadn't pointed it at her either, which was a good sign. So she reached over and took it out of his grasp. Then lifting the butt up where the green materia orb was encased, she gently touched it and whispered a chant. A soft hue of green light emerged and she directed it towards Vincent with some more words. As the glow effused out of the materia onto Vincent he saw the flow of blood begin to slow its course out of his body and the flesh begin to repair itself. In a matter of moments the wound had completely healed, leaving only a faint scar. He still felt a little faint from the loss of blood, but he wondered if even that may only have been a psychosomatic reaction. He was amazed.

"How did you do that?"

Tifa grinned. "Magic." She couldn't resist running her hand down his skin, checking to assure herself that he was completely healed. Her touch made him shiver. "I'm sorry. Are my hands cold?" But when she looked up into his deep brown eyes, she knew that wasn't it. Just as surely as she knew that wasn't the reason why her breath felt quaky and a quiver went down her spine.

"You must show me how you did that." Vincent finally said, breaking the spell and taking his gun from her.

"Of course," Tifa replied somewhat and inexplicably disappointed by his abrupt change of heart. She stood up and began looking around for the chocobo. "But first we need to get out of here. Whatever it was, we don't want it to come back and take another swipe at you."

The chocobo had been scared away, either by the thing that had attacked Vincent, or Vincent's gunfire, but when Tifa called, it came running back obediently. They figured if the chocobo was willing to come back then the monster must not be very close anymore, but decided it would be better for them to get back on the trail since they had only stopped for a short break anyway. They got on the chocobo's back and continued their descent down the mountain.

On the chocobo, they were able to cover a lot of terrain. By the time the sun had begun to set the rocky environment had turned into grass. Vincent was sure that they must be closer to Traverse Town than he had originally thought.

* * *

It was quite late by the time the pair arrived in Traverse Town. To Tifa, it looked nothing like the Rocket Town she was used to, just as it had been in Nibelheim. The town was no more than the place where two dirt roads met, with a few buildings, and a smattering of farms in the surrounding countryside. But it did have an inn. Tifa was really looking forward to a bath.

As soon as they pulled up to the inn, Tifa alighted and turned towards the entrance. But before she could take a step, Vincent held out a hand to stop her.

"You can't just waltz in there. What if your would-be captors were in there?" Vincent reasoned. "They'd spot you in an instant and try to kidnap you again. Here. Put this on," Vincent said wrapping his jacket around her and pushing up the collar so that her lower face was hidden. It was such an intimate gesture, but it felt so natural. Why shouldn't she be wearing his jacket, feeling his hands on her shoulders, enveloped in his scent? But if he noticed the affect that he had on her, he didn't say anything. After he finished putting his jacket on her he went to tie the chocobo to a tree a little bit away from the inn in case anyone recognized the animal.

"What about you? Don't you think you look kind of suspicious?" Tifa pointed out. Vincent looked down and realized that his shirt was a torn and bloody mess.

"Good point." He suddenly stripped off his shirt, giving Tifa her second unobstructed view of his chest that day. Again she was struck by masculine beauty of his body. She wanted to run her hands down it again to feel the hardness of his muscles and the warmth of his skin. Blushing, she looked away quickly before he realized that she was staring.

He didn't seem to notice, but went rummaging through a pack on the chocobo and found another shirt. After he put it on he turned back to Tifa and gestured toward the inn. "After you."

As soon as they entered, Tifa saw the men who had tried to capture her. There were four of them this time, and they were sitting in a corner of the room. Luckily, they seemed more occupied with their game than with any newcomers. Tifa self-consciously pulled up the collar a little higher and nodded to Vincent. He glanced quickly in the corner, but then turned towards the front desk where a woman was reading a book. "Excuse me, ma'am. Are there any rooms available? We'd like a room for two."

"Why, yes, there are," drawled the woman closing her book to appraise her customers. "Will ya'll be wantin' ter eat yer meals down here too?"

"In our room will suffice."

"Well, I'll hafter charge extra fer room service. Is that all right?"

"That's fine."

"Now our rooms don't have no keys, so if you have any valuables you want locked up, you'll be wanting to leave them down here in our safe."

"That's unnecessary."

"All right. Yer in room 3. It's up the stairs and down the hall all the way at the end. Thanks for staying with us, and if you two will be needing anything, just give me a holler."

"Will do," Vincent murmured noncommittally. Putting his hand on Tifa's lower back he began to lead her towards the stairs. "Thanks for your hospitality," Tifa called out over her shoulder.

Following the woman's directions they found themselves in a small room with a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a sink with a couple of towels. _So much for a hot bath, _Tifa sighed regretfully.

Before Tifa could even sink wearily onto the bed Vincent told her, "You can have the bed, I'll take the floor."

"That's very kind of you, Vincent." She took off his jacket and handed it to him. Then she began stripping the blankets from the bed and laying them on the floor. "If you're going to give me the bed, the least I can give you are the blankets."

"Thank you, but I won't be going to sleep just yet."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get in on that game downstairs."

"Do you trust me enough to leave me up here by myself?"

"I trust that your desire for a nice warm bed and hot meal overrides your desire to escape."

"And you would be right."

"But I won't risk it." With that he slapped handcuffs on her wrist and then chained her to the bed post. "I'll be back soon." Then he swiftly walked away.

* * *

Vincent was more and more puzzled by Tifa. Her reasoning behind staying with him seemed rational, and yet he could not help feeling that there was more to it than what lay at the surface. If he had been in her position he would have taken the opportunity to run. And yet she hadn't, and he was grateful, indebted to her even, for healing him. But that brought up another question. Where had she learned to use materia? It seemed more and more important that he get her back to headquarters for questioning.

Before he headed over to the gaming table he stopped by the front desk again to make inquiries about the sailing schedule. He hoped to get to Costa del Sol by tomorrow, and hopefully Midgar in a couple of days time after that. But if he was going to get himself and Tifa there, he had to get some more money first, even if it meant breaking his cover.

The innkeeper was still there reading her book. As he approached she looked up, and put the book down. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

"Yes, thank you. Could you tell me when the next ship for Costa del Sol leaves?"

"There's actually one leaving tomorrer around noon. There's usually at least one ship every day."

"That's very convenient. And where may I purchase passage?"

"You'll have to talk to the captain. He's actually sitting at that table over there." She pointed to the corner where his targets were playing a game of Mythril Run. "He's the older gentleman with white hair and a beard."

"Thank you so much for your help, ma'am." He nodded politely, then headed towards the card game.

"Have room for another?" he asked as he approached the table. There were six people sitting at a big circular table in the corner of the room. There was the captain, who looked just as the innkeeper had told him—white hair, white eyebrows, white mustache, and white hair made him look like a more sea-hardened and wiry version of Father Frost, the gift giver of the winter festival; another man who was much younger and as dark as the captain was white; and the four men Vincent had been following. The leader, he had discovered earlier, was named Murphy. Out of the group, he seemed to be winning. He had a pile of gil and other assorted trinkets in front of him. This man watched Vincent approach with a steady, wary, stare, sizing up his potential opponent. Vincent was as relaxed and cool as ever. He matched the man's stare with an unconcerned curl of the lips, and when the captain nodded, took an empty seat across from Murphy. He put up 100 gil. It was almost all he had.

"So what brings you to these parts?" asked the captain, affably.

"Death in the family. My mother was from Wutai, you see." With his dark eyes, and dark hair he certainly fit the part. Many people often mistook him for Wutaian.

"My condolences." The captain dealt him in.

"But now I must return to Costa del Sol. They can't seem to run things without me."

"What d'ye run?" asked Murphy, nonchantly.

"A bank." That drew laughter from the man's companions. Bankers were notorious for their lavish spending habits, especially at gaming tables. "Shall we get down to business?"

The game was Mythril Run. There were six suits; crowns, arrows, crosses, stars, swords, and cups. The object of the game was to collect as many of the same suit without being dealt the fool. Some cards, like the lover, could be used to strengthen a player's suit depending on if it was dealt or discarded to him. The friend was a wild card that could only be played once. The strongest suit of them all was crowns because it could only be defeated by cups, but cups could be defeated by them all, except crowns.

Vincent had been dealt a fairly even hand. There was nothing particularly strong or weak about it, which gave him confidence that he would be able to stay in the game for a while. Vincent played cautiously at first, discarding only when he knew he could force his opponent's hand. With each round the kitty got larger and larger, until Vincent ran out of his initial 100 gil.

"Looks like you're out of this one," the captain noted.

"Not quite. I've got a chocobo outside that is worth five times the amount here. Will that be acceptable?" Vincent was betting that no one would want to interrupt the game to verify that he had it. If they actually went to look, they would see that his chocobo actually belonged to their former companion and then his cover would be blown. But he was right. No one opposed his contention; in fact Murphy was eager to continue the game.

"I'll bet that no one here can match me." Those were the magic words indicating that he was ready to show his hand. If a player was confident that he had a winning hand then he could show it and end the game there. And when a player made a challenge then another player had to meet it, or forfeit his hand.

Each player weighed his options and then one by one folded until it was just Vincent and the Murphy. They stared at each other, sizing each other up. Finally, Vincent said, "I'll match you."

As the challenger, the man revealed his cards first. In the last hand he had been dealt a thirteenth card, which meant he needed to discard two in order to have an even eleven. After he discarded, he had the entire suit of crowns, from the tiny peon to the great magister. It was the ultimate play in strength and the others around the table were impressed.

Then Vincent revealed his hand. He had almost a full suit of arrows, which would not be enough to win except that he had a trick play up his sleeve. Vincent had only ten cards, which meant that as the last player he could take one of the other man's cards. That put them even, and then they would move on to a death match. In the death match each player had to choose one card from his discard pile that he thought would defeat his opponent.

Again Murphy went first and chose a cross, as it was the next strongest suit after crowns. Then Vincent revealed his ace in the hole, the friend card, the wild card, which made him the winner.

"Well, I'll be damned," exclaimed the captain. "I ain't never seen no one play a hand like that! That was a good card game!"

Murphy wasn't quite so excited. "Cheater!" he accused, pushing himself angrily up from the table and brandishing a knife. But Vincent already had his gun pointed at his chest. The woman at the front desk let out a scream of protest.

"There's no reason to be such a sore loser. We both know I'm not the cheat," Vincent said calmly, eyeing the deck of cards pointedly. "Why don't you get out of here before I stain that poor old lady's parlor room with your blood spattered all over her walls?"

Even though Vincent was outnumbered, he knew that Murphy wouldn't want to make any more trouble, at least not if he wanted to garner any more public support for his cause. When Murphy came to that realization himself, he backed away from the table and stormed outside, the others following after him. Vincent watched them leave, making a note that Murphy did not like to lose. But then, neither did he.

When they were gone Vincent turned to the captain. "I hear your heading out to Costa del Sol tomorrow."

"That's right, son," the captain said warily.

Vincent put his weapon away. "Do you have space for two more people?"

"Well, that's going to cost you."

"Name your price."

"500 gil."

Vincent counted 500 gil from his winnings and handed it over to the captain. Then he put the rest in a pouch, which he then stuck in the pocket of his jacket. "Until tomorrow," he said in parting as he stood up. He walked over to the innkeeper, who was staring at him suspiciously.

"I'm very sorry to draw a gun in your fine establishment, ma'am, but I had to protect myself. By way of apologies, I'd like to offer you a gift. There's a blue chocobo tied up to a tree in the yard behind the inn. He's yours if you want him."

"Why thank you kindly, sir," she said, her expression cautiously warm.

"Now, I just have one more question."

"I'm listening."

"How do I go about procuring dinner?"

* * *

When Vincent returned carrying a tray of food, he found Tifa sitting on the bed staring at her ring. He had noticed it before because of its unique setting. But he didn't realize what it meant until he saw how forlorn she looked. "You are engaged." He wondered what the man who gave it to Tifa was like. Whoever he was, he was one lucky man.

Visibly bristling, Tifa quickly looked up and folded her arms, hiding the ring from sight. "That's none of your business."

Ignoring her words, he set the tray down beside her on the bed. "I brought you something to eat. You must be hungry."

She was and her stomach let out an audible growl at the smell of food. There was a bowl of stew and some bread. "Will you unhandcuff me?" Vincent retrieved a key from his pocket and released her. She rubbed her wrist gratefully. Then she grabbed the bowl and began to eat hungrily. "Thanks. How did your game go, by the way?"

He took off his jacket and placed it on a bed post "It was a success." Then he gingerly sat down on the sheets that Tifa had kindly laid out for him before he had callously handcuffed her. He stretched out his long legs in front of him, and sat leaning against the wall, watching Tifa as she ate.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked, slightly self-conscious of his unwavering gaze.

"I already ate."

"Oh." Still unnerved she asked angrily, "Are you going to sit there all night staring at me to make sure I don't try to escape?"

"I won't have to."

"Why not?"

"Because I put something in your food."

With those words Tifa coughed and spit out a half-chewed piece of bread. Then she lunged at Vincent. "You bastard!"

Vincent was up in an instant and reached for her just as she began to fall. "_Why are you doing this…_" she gasped, just before she lost consciousness.

* * *

A/N: It may take me four more years for another update. But I do plan on continuing this thing.

Credit goes to Kindled Chime for the idea of having a card game called Mythril Run, but my rules are different from hers. _Memories _was one of the first FF7 fanfics I ever read.


End file.
